Pardiñas used AGMA and ABMA documents and standards for his career project during school and later joined both associations through ABS. MGS Gears, one of the first three companies in Italy to join AGMA, further solidified this connection. As a board member of ABMA, Pardiñas actively supports the growth and competitiveness of the North American industry. His role on the National Industrial Advisory Board at Florida International University’s College of Engineering and Computing further underscores his dedication to educational excellence and fostering the next generation of engineering talent. He has a unique origin story about being introduced to AGMA in college when two of his college professors in Cuba were allowed to access AGMA standards without a membership. “My professors were the only instructors in the country that had a connection with AGMA and access to all aspects of gear design and gear science. It was a spectacular opportunity for us,” Pardiñas said. “In fact, one of my college professors, José Martínez Escanaverino from Cuba, has been working 14+ years at ABS as a scientific director.” Escanaverino was recently honored with AGMA’s prestigious annual publication award for his contributions to the ANSI/AGMA 6008-B24 standard, “Specifications for Powder Metallurgy Gears.” He became an Academic Member of AGMA in 1993 and actively participated in the Helical Gear Rating Committee (HGRC), earning recognition as an Associate Member for his work on the ANSI/AGMA 2001-D04 Standard, published in 2004. One of his most notable contributions was a paper presented at the 1999 FTM in Denver, titled “Failures of Bevel-Helical Gear Units on Traveling Bridge Cranes (99FTM13).” The paper addressed a longstanding debate between crane and gear manufacturers regarding service factors for gear unit selection and provided clear recommendations to both manufacturers and end-users, resolving the controversy. Due to restrictions imposed by the Cuban government, he was unable to attend the event. However, AGMA executives arranged for a designated presenter, and the paper’s significance led to its full publication in the November/December 2000 issue of Gear Technology, where it was praised as highly relevant and impactful for its audience. Reliability Focused This magazine has frequently covered gearbox and bearing reliability. It remains one of the most challenging aspects of mechanical power transmission to date and an area in which Pardiñas has invested heavily at ABS. “Everybody’s struggling on the reliability side. And we’ve invested heavily in it since the very beginning,” Pardiñas said. “We are designing gears, gearboxes and bearings every month, because 80 percent of our revenue is a custom-made power transmission component, designed by us and produced internally.” ABS acquired a gearbox repair facility for the wind industry in Costa Rica nearly 15 years ago, followed by a second facility in Mexico in 2017. This expansion continued with the establishment of ABS Wind Mexico, with locations in Puebla and Oaxaca; ABS Wind Brazil; the ABS Wind US workshop in Big Spring, TX; MGS Gears in Milan, Italy; and a facility in Dalian, China. These strategically located facilities have enabled ABS to localize its services. Today, ABS provides engineering, reverse engineering, repair, field services, and more, serving clients across the USA and in over 20 countries worldwide. The company prides itself on adapting to the changing dynamics of the mechanical power transmission markets and analyzing the impact they may have on the industry.“We typically compete with major industry-leading organizations in our field. Our flexibility and ingenuity are areas that allow us to adapt to our customer’s requests,” Pardiñas added.

MGS Gears, led by Maurizio Stucchi and backed by a team with 30+ years’ experience is synonymous with precision and Italian design. ABS Wind, a global company specialized in multi-brand maintenance and repair solutions for wind turbines, and ZF Wind Power, a world leader in the manufacturing of wind turbine announced a strategic collaboration at the Cleanpower congress for the repair of their gearboxes in the North American market in early 2024.

This partnership designates ABS Wind as the authorized and exclusive partner for the repair of gearboxes and components from ZF Wind Power in America. It also enables Thrive, ZF Wind Power’s service concept, to strengthen the efficiency to regional partners.

The hub of this operation will be located at ABS Wind’s expansive facilities in Big Spring, TX, a strategic location equipped with qualified personnel and the necessary technology, including an advanced test bench for wind turbine gearboxes. This setup ensures compliance with the stringent quality standards demanded by the technological giant.

“This partnership with ZF shows our global customers that we are key players in gearbox repair and reflects our growth as their exclusive partner in the United States,” Pardiñas said.